The continuous use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers on plants, bushes, and trees, and especially in agricultural settings in the production of crops, has created a variety of ecological problems. As the world and national populations have increased, farmers and horticulturalists have come to rely increasingly upon chemically synthesized fertilizers and chemical pesticides to maintain the same level of crop production.
More and more, organic base byproducts, including, but not limited to, biosolids, activated sludge, municipal compost, animal manures (such as cow, horse, pig, sheep, or chicken manure), and composted organic byproducts containing various plant nutrients, are being produced as a result of industrial and agricultural activities and processes. The nutrient content of these byproducts is generally low and these byproducts have been used as fillers, soil amendments, or landfill because of their low nutrient value.
Turfgrasses, whether on a fairway, putting green, or tee require rather large amounts of N fertilization during the growing season to maintain a desirable dark green color. There are numerous inorganic nitrogen fertilizer materials that can supply this needed nitrogen very adequately. However, these inorganic salts are very soluble in the soil solution and are readily converted to the nitrate form and leach, thus making frequent application of these materials necessary. Natural and synthetic slow-release organic nitrogen materials are available which release nitrogen over a longer period of time, thus reducing the frequency of application, while increasing the uniformity of turf growth and appearance throughout the season. Natural and synthetic slow-release N sources are influenced differently by the various environmental factors to which they are exposed. The subject invention provides advantageous methods that increase the nutrient value of organic base byproducts and can be enhanced in such a way as to produce a high nutrient value homogenous organic-base fertilizer. Also provided are fertilizers having high nutrient values.